What's New 1.0.2

Firefox 1.0.2 is a security and stability update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

Downloading and Installing

System Requirements

Downloading Firefox

Mozilla.org provides Firefox for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X in a
variety of languages. To get the latest version of Firefox, visit
GetFirefox.com or browse the
FTP site.
For builds for other systems and languages not provided by Mozilla.org, see
the Contributed Builds section at the end of this document.

Installing Firefox

Once you have downloaded a Firefox, follow these instructions to
install:

Windows

Mac OS X

Once you have downloaded the Firefox 1.0.2.dmg file, double click the Firefox Disk Image to open it in Finder, and then drag the Firefox application onto your hard disk. Drag the icon to your Dock if you want it to appear there.

For Firefox 1.0, double click the Firefox 1.0.dmg.gz Disk Image to uncompress and mount it.
Your browser may have already done this for you. Double click the Firefox
Disk Image to open it in Finder and drag the Firefox application onto your
hard disk. Do not double click the icon in the disk image!
Be sure to drag the Firefox application out of the disk image and onto your
Hard Disk before running it. Drag the icon to your Dock if you want it to
appear there.

Linux/GTK2

If you have Nautilus set up to run Executable Text Files you can just
double click firefox-installer to run.

Other Platforms

Extract the compressed archive and run firefox

Uninstalling Firefox

To uninstall Firefox, follow these instructions:

Windows

From the Start menu, choose Control Panel. When the
Control Panel appears, double click Add/Remove Programs. Find
"Mozilla Firefox (1.0.2)" in the list and click Remove to uninstall.

Mac OS X

Drag the Firefox application to the Trash.

Others

Remove the firefox folder.

These instructions leave your profile in place in case you install Firefox
again in the future. If you wish to remove your profile folder, remove
the location described below in the "Profile Folder" section.
Note that by doing this you are destroying all of your Bookmarks, saved passwords,
settings and other information and should you decide to use Firefox again you
will be starting with a clean profile.

Other Information

Profile Folder

Firefox stores your user data in one of the following locations:

Windows 2000, XP

Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

Windows NT

WINNT\Profiles\<UserName>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

Windows 98, ME

Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

Mac OS X

~/Library/Application Support/Firefox

Linux and Unix systems

~/.mozilla/firefox

If you were using Firefox 0.8 as your default browser prior to upgrading to
Firefox 1.0, data from your profile will be copied into the new location. You
can remove the old "Phoenix" folder at your leisure.

Extensions and Themes

When you upgrade to a new version of Firefox all of your Extensions and Themes
will be disabled until Firefox determines that either a) they are compatible
with the new release or b) there are newer versions available that are
compatible. This is because Firefox changes from release to release and as such
the ways in which some extensions integrate changes, meaning there can be problems
when running an older extension with a newer version of Firefox. If you find
that your favorite Extension or Theme has not been updated to be compatible with
this release of Firefox, write the author and encourage them to update it.

This automatic updating of Extensions and Themes does not apply to users of
Firefox 0.8 or below who upgrade to Firefox 1.0. Those Extensions will be
disabled when 1.0 starts, and users will have to download and install 1.0
compatible versions manually.

To prevent the kind of problems we had with the 0.8 release (users were having
the browser not start with "No XBL Binding for Browser" errors, and finding
that their theme was broken), all of your extensions will be disabled when you
move to 1.0. If you were using 0.9 or 1.0PR, when you first run 1.0, Firefox will
try and connect to update.mozilla.org to look for newer, compatible versions
of your Extensions, and if they are available it will download and install them.
If you were using 0.8, you will have to find newer compatible versions yourself.

Other Changes

On Linux, Firefox now follows GTK's setting for textbox keybindings, so pressing
Ctrl+letters triggers application shortcuts instead of readline-like text-editing
shortcuts. For details, see this document.

Known Issues

This list covers some of the known problems with Firefox 1.0. Please read this
before reporting any new bugs, and watch it regularly (we'll update it as new
bugs are found in the release).

All Systems

Prior to installing Firefox 1.0.2, please ensure that the directory you've
chosen to install into is clean and doesn't contain any previous Firefox
installations.

If you install Firefox on a multi-user system in an area in which there is
restricted access privileges, you must run Firefox as a user with access to
that location upon installation so that all initial startup files are generated.
If this is not done, when a user without write access to the install location
attempts to start Firefox, they will not have sufficient privileges to allow
Firefox to generate the initial startup files it needs to.

When upgrading, all your Extensions and Themes will be disabled. This is not
an issue, but it may appear to be one (hence its listing here). For rationale,
see "Extension and Themes" above.

Software Update does not request proxy authentication and will fail if you
are behind a proxy server. (bug)
The workaround is to visit a web page in the browser and log in to the proxy
server and then perform Software Update.

Software Update will not work if Firefox is installed to a location that you
do not have write access to, since Software Update needs to replace or create
files in this location.

The Help documentation refers to "Single Window Mode" options
regarding "Force links opened in new windows to open in [New Tab, Same Tab]."
This function was disabled at the last minute due to problems we were experiencing
with it, so ignore this section of Help. To re-enable the Single Window Mode
options (at your own risk - there may be crashes), use the Configuration Console
(accessed by entering "about:config" in the Location bar and pressing Enter)
to set browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs to true.

Windows

When installing as a restricted access user on a shared machine into a location
that you can write to, there may still be negative side effects (default
browser/other keys not being set correctly). The browser should still function
however. When installing as a restricted access user do not
attempt to install over an installation in a restricted-access/shared location
as this may destroy that installation.

Firefox may hang when closing after viewing a PDF file in some older versions
of the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug in. If you experience this make sure you are
using the newest
version of the plug in.

On Windows 98 systems, the Application icon may appear as a Windows icon.

Mac OS X

Do NOT run Firefox from the Disk Image! - doing this will
cause an infinite restart loop (the symptom of which is a Firefox icon that
bounces briefly in the Dock then disappears and reappears, bounces and
disappears, over and over). To break Firefox out of this loop, open a
Terminal and type "killall firefox-bin" and press enter. Install Firefox to
a location you have write access to and try again. When installing on a multi-
user limited access system, install it into a shared location as administrator,
run it once and then all users should be able to access it.

If Firefox does not display a browser window, quit Firefox
using Cmd+Q and open ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<garble>.default/
and remove localstore.rdf. Restart Firefox. Any toolbar
customizations you have made or window placement will be lost

Linux and Unix systems

If Firefox is installed to a location with spaces in the path, Firefox
may not be able to set itself as Default browser and may keep prompting at
startup. The work around is to install into a path without spaces.

GNOME integration does not work properly with Fedora Core 3.
Users of Fedora Core 3 will need to download and install
linc-1.0.3-3.1.i386.rpm.
After installing the RPM, perform the following command in the directory you
installed Firefox into (you will need write permission):

touch .autoreg

The next time you start Firefox, GNOME integration should be functional.

Web Page Rendering

Firefox is powered by the same Gecko layout engine as other Mozilla software.
If you encounter a problem with a website that does not correctly display
then it is usually a problem with Gecko, not Firefox itself. Such problems
should be reported in the Browser product (not the Firefox product) in
Bugzilla. If you are technically
minded, try and create a reduced test case and this will help get your bug
more attention.

The Configuration Console (accessed by entering "about:config" in the Location
bar and pressing Enter) gives advanced/experienced users direct control over
Firefox's preferences. This system is for use by people who know what they are
doing only, by changing a value incorrectly you may damage or destroy your
Firefox installation! Look to Help sites for handy preferences to tweak to
customize Firefox further.

Troubleshooting

Poorly designed or incompatible Extensions can cause problems with your browser,
including make it crash, slow down page display, etc.
If you encounter strange problems relating to parts of the browser no longer
working, the browser not starting, windows with strange or distorted appearance,
degraded performance, etc, you may be suffering from Extension or Theme trouble.
Restart the browser in Safe Mode. On Windows, start using the "Safe Mode" shortcut created in your
Start menu or by running firefox.exe -safe-mode. On Linux,
start with ./firefox -safe-mode and on Mac OS X, run:

cd /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/
./firefox-bin -safe-mode

When started in Safe Mode all extensions are disabled and the Default theme
is used. Disable the Extension/Theme that is causing trouble and then start
normally.

If you uninstall an extension that is installed with your user profile (i.e.
you installed it from a web page) and then wish to install it for all user
profiles using the -install-global-extension command line flag, you must
restart the browser once to cleanse the profile extensions datasource of
traces of that extension before installing with the switch. If you do not do
this you may end up with a jammed entry in the Extensions list and will be
unable to install the extension globally.

If you encounter strange problems relating to bookmarks, downloads, window
placement, toolbars, history, or other settings, it is recommended that you try
creating a new profile and attempting to reproduce the problem before filing
bugs. Create a new profile by running Firefox with the -P command line
argument, choose the "Manage Profiles" button and then choose "Create
Profile...". Migrate your settings files (Bookmarks, Saved Passwords, etc) over
one by one, checking each time to see if the problems resurface. If you do find
a particular profile data file is causing a problem, file a bug and attach the
file.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do to help?

We need all the exposure we can get. Make it your mission to convert as many
of your friends, family members and coworkers as possible. If you're a student,
get it distributed at your college. Submit a story to
Slashdot and other news sites about the release. Make some noise on your
blog. Mass distribution via the Internet is possible -- look at Kazaa.
Spread the word!

I use another browser because...

If you're not using Firefox, tell the development team why. We read the
feedback at the Firefox
forums.

Why haven't you responded to the mail I sent you?

Use the forums. The
Firefox team reads them regularly. We all get a lot of email and your email may
get lost.

Lots of people. See Help->About Mozilla Firefox, Credits for a list of some of the people
who have contributed to Firefox.

Where's the Firefox source code?

A tarball of the 1.0.2 source code is available for
download. The latest development
code can be obtained by cvs.
Firefox-specific source is in "mozilla/browser", "mozilla/toolkit",
and "mozilla/chrome". Please follow the build instructions.

Where is the mail client?

Firefox works with whatever mail client is the default on your system.
However, we recommend Mozilla Thunderbird, our
next generation email client and the perfect complement to Firefox.

How do I spell Firefox? How do I abbreviate it?

Firefox is spelled F-i-r-e-f-o-x - only the first letter capitalized
(i.e. not FireFox, not Foxfire, FoxFire or whatever else a number of
folk seem to think it to be called.) The preferred abbreviation is
"Fx" or "fx".